Adapting merge candidate positions and numbers according to size and/or shape of prediction block

An apparatus for video coding, comprising circuitry configured to:

• receive a prediction block (PB) of a picture;
• determine a first number of merge candidate positions of the PB according to a size of the PB, the merge candidate positions being positions of spatial or temporal merge candidates;
• determine the merge candidate positions on sides of the PB according to the first number of the merge candidate positions, the merge candidate positions being distributed along the sides of the PB and not adjacent to each other;
• and
• construct a candidate list including motion data of a subset of the merge candidate positions.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform a method for video coding, the method comprising:

• receiving a prediction block (PB) of a picture;
• determining a first number of merge candidate positions of the PB according to a size of the PB, the merge candidate positions being positions of spatial or temporal merge candidates;
• determining the merge candidate positions on sides of the PB according to the first number of the merge candidate positions, the merge candidate positions being distributed along the sides of the PB and not adjacent to each other;
• and
• constructing a candidate list including motion data of a subset of the merge candidate positions.